Along the Shore
by Silently Wandering
Summary: Steve and Liz are happy. Very happy. Unbelievable happy. So of course Foalan is back, Steve's best friend is back, and Liz receives news that will change their lives forever. They were happy, but nothing is ever that easy. Sequel to Beneath the Waves. Rated T to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Oh my goodness I am so very sorry this took so painfully long. I have had so much going on. My life is still pretty crazy right now, but I do have a lot of this either story written or planed out. I can not promise anything when it comes to updates except that they will happen! I hope I will be able to have this story finished by the end of 2014. Maybe sooner. Again no promises. One more thing before the chapter:**

**Here's the basic timeline for this story:**

**Iron Man 3 Occurs (Tony does not have the surgery at the end and has rebuilt the suits)**

**Thor the Dark World**

**The event of Beneath the Waves occur **

**Liz and Steve get married on July 4th**

**The events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier occur in Late August (Some of the details, like Natasha trying to set Steve up with someone, are slightly different and anything terribly important will be explained as the story progresses.)**

**This Story happens in late September**

**I hope that isn't too confusing. Enjoy!**

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><p>Liz skidded to a stop outside the Hospital door. She was shaking and scared. Natasha had contacted her. She and Steve had returned from their Honeymoon and Fury had called him in immediately. Steve and Natasha were going to be spending some time in Washington and, for safety purposes, Steve had insisted she remain at the tower. About three weeks after they had left she had gotten the ca1l.<p>

_Natasha had called her and explained that Steve was in the Hospital. She didn't know any concrete details, but she knew she had to get to Steve. When she arrived in Washington, Natasha was waiting for her. _

_Natasha smiled. "Hey."_

_Liz hugged her. "Is he okay?"_

_Natasha nodded. "He hasn't woken up yet, but the doctors say he'll be fine. Sam's with him."_

_"Sam?"_

_"Not important."_

_"Are you going to have to leave?"_

_Natasha rolled her eyes. "No. I'm moving back into the tower."_

_"And S.H.E.I.L.D?"_

_"Fury has a general outline for a new S.H.E.I.L.D. He's going to run it. He honestly believes he can help the world. He's already employed me and the other Avengers. Any other questions?"_

_Liz nodded. "When can I go see Steve?"_

Steve looked awful. He was bruised and beaten. His eyes were closed, but he was breathing evenly. A man, who was seated in the chair next to Steve's bed, looked up and smiled a kind smile at her. "You must be Mrs. Rogers." He stood up and walked passed her, placing a hand on her shoulder gently. "He woke up a few minutes ago."

Liz smiled. "Thanks. Sam Wilson I assume?"

Te man smiled. "The one and only. I'll give you two some privacy."And with that he left.

Liz took the seat next to his bed and grabbed his hand. "You need to stop doing this to me."

A low moan escaped Steve's mouth. "Not on purpose."

Liz laughed. "I love you."

Steve smiled slightly, the stitches on the side of his mouth tugging a bit. "Love you too."

Steve moved over a bit and Liz climbed up onto the hospital bed and snuggled up next to him. She ran a hand through his hair. He seemed distant, a bit distracted. She would get to the bottom of what happened later. Now she was just enjoying being with Steve. She hadn't seen him in weeks. He left immediately after their honeymoon. She had wanted to go with him, but he insisted she stay with Tony and Bruce at the tower. Clint was off on a solo mission, and Thor was back home.

"So how do you feel?" Liz asked quietly.

Steve sighed. "Okay. Better then before."

"What happened?"

"What did they tell you?"

Liz snuggled into his shoulder gently. "Not much."

Steve swallowed. "Bucky's alive."

"Bucky as in your friend from the 40's Bucky?"

Steve sighed. "Yeah. Sam's going to help me find him."

Dread settled in Liz's stomach. "You're leaving again?"

Steve shook his head. "No. I'm coming back to the tower. I'm going to be going out and looking for him, maybe I'll be gone a day or two, but not too long. I promise."

Liz kissed the stitches on the side of his mouth gently. "Go to sleep. You need to rest."

Steve closed his eyes. "Mmm."

Liz smiled. "Sleep." She snuggled up into his side.

"Hey Liz," Liz glanced up from her book and smiled at Sam.

"Hey Sam," The man plopped himself down in the seat next to her. Steve was currently asleep. He had healed relatively well in the last three days, but he was still tired.

"How's Mr. Super idiot today?"

Liz chuckled. "Fine. Still tired, but fine. They say he can go home tomorrow."

"Awesome."

"Are you coming back to the tower Sam?"

Sam shook his head. "Not ready to face that craziness. I'll be around though. And you better keep in touch."

Liz rolled her eyes. "Of course Sam."

Sam bumped his knee against hers. The two had bonded a lot over the last few days. Sam really was an amazing guy. Plus he had helped Steve and Natasha and Liz would always be indebted to him for that. He squeezed her shoulder and left the room.

A few seconds later Steve stirred and blinked his eyes open. He smiled. "I love you." He said. Liz smiled and kissed him softly. They would be okay.

* * *

><p>Liz groaned and hugged the rim of the toilet. She rested her head on the cool surface of the seat and closed her eyes. For the past week or two, she had felt weak, shaky, and nauseous a majority of the time. She heard the door open and a familiar person knelt beside her.<p>

"Hey," Steve said quietly, pulling her hair out of her face. "Maybe you should stay in bed today."

Liz chuckled and shook her head. "I'll be fine, just a stomach bug." They had gotten back from D.C about two weeks ago and Liz had been feeling crappy ever since.

Steve smiled and kissed the back of her neck. "Do you want anything. I can bring you some ginger ale, maybe some crackers?"

Liz smiled and shook her head. "No, I'm just going to," She swallowed once. "I'm going to call my sister and then go back to sleep. I was supposed to look at flower arrangements with Jane and Pepper today. I'm sure she will understand though," Jane and Thor had gotten engaged shortly after her and Steve's wedding. Steve pulled her gently to her feet and led her over to the bed.

"I'm glad you two are talking," Steve whispered. Her family had come to the wedding, though they hadn't stayed after. Liz had asked Clint to walk her down the isle (she had been torn between asking him and asking Tony, but Steve had settled that for her by asking Tony to be his best man). It hadn't gone over very well with her father. He had bit his tongue until the reception where Liz had gotten into a screaming match with him outside of the hall.

Long story short, Liz's father had said that it was her fault for leaving and that he was taking his family home. He had dragged her teary eyed mother and he kicking and screaming sister. Her brother, Daniel, was quiet through the whole ordeal. He politely congratulated the newly weds and left after his mother and father. Liz had been devastated, but Pepper and Natasha had taken her to the bathroom, gotten her calmed down a little bit, and brought her back in time to cut the cake.

Liz and Steve had left for one of Tony's tropical houses afterwards and spent three weeks there. Liz was officially Mrs. Elizabeth Rogers. And, aside from the three weeks Steve had been in DC and the whole Winter Soldier incident, she was loving it. Well except for the whole stomach flu of death thing she currently had going on. Steve and Natasha had been back at the tower for about a month and this

"I couldn't keep Katie away if I wanted to," She sighed and sunk into the pillows. "So what are your plans for today?"

Steve wrinkled his nose and sat on the side of the bed. "Training with some of the new recruits. I think I've gotten another lead on Bucky so I'm flying to Maine."

Liz laughed. She knew how Steve hated training the new S.H.E.I.L.D agents, but seeing as Fury was building the agency up again it was necessary. They never listened and spent most of their time gawking at him. "Well you could always quit your day job." Liz said jokingly.

He laughed and kissed her nose. "I'll survive. I'll be back for dinner though."

"Be careful."

"I will. Get some rest Mrs. Rogers."

"Of course Mr. Rogers," She leaned up and pecked him on the lips. "I'll text you."

Steve smiled and waved as he left the room.

"God I though he'd never leave," Liz nearly jumped out of her skin. She spun towards the window. Natasha was standing there, arms crossed, looking a bit bored.

"Natasha what the hell!" Liz said sitting up.

Natasha smiled. "What? I have something for you."

"I have a door you know."

"I couldn't risk Steve seeing me," She held up a paper bag and tossed it to Liz. She looked inside and frowned.

"Nat, this isn't-"

"Prove me wrong then," Natasha said, sitting cross legged in front of the door. It was obvious she wasn't going to be able to leave.

"I-"

"It'll take ten minutes at most," Natasha said motioning towards the bathroom.

Liz sighed and did as she was told. She pulled out the cardboard box. She was hoping Natasha was wrong. That her assumption of what was ailing Liz had been seriously misconstrued. But part of her knew one thing for certain.

Natasha was right 99.9% of the time. She prayed that she was that 0.1%.

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><p><strong>Kind of short I know. I apologize. I'll be as fast as I can with updating! Please review and let my know what you think about the story! Thank you my wonderful readers! -Silently Wandering<br>**


	2. Chapter 2

**I am so so so sorry. Things are crazy with my life right now and I won't bore you guys with the details or anything, but just know that I did not mean to wait this long to update this story. I am not giving up on it. I am going to finish it if it kills me. I will hopefully have some free time staring December 10th. I will try to update again, but again I am not promising anything. I will not abandon this story though. That I will promise you. On with the chapter!**

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><p>"What the hell am I going to do Nat?" Liz was sitting on the bathroom floor once again, but this time she wanted to throw up for a completely different reason. Her knees were drawn to her chest and the stupid little whit elastic stick hung loosely from her hand from her hand, the tiny little pink plus glaring at her.<p>

Natasha sat on the sink, her legs crossed. "I still don't see what to problem is."

Liz lifted her head to look at Natasha. "Well first of all the press."

Ever since Steve's identity had been revealed, he had become the center of the publics every watching eye. Liz had as well by association. She had literally become America's Sweetheart over night. Seriously, because she was engaged (and then married to) Captain America that's what they were calling her. They had taken the wedding and made it their business. She was constantly stopped on her way to work and she could barely go outside without being recognized.

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Not a good enough reason. The press is going to find something eventually."

Liz sighed. "Also, Steve and I never even brought up to topic of children. The idea to talk about it never even crossed my mind. I mean, I always used to think that I would be a mother someday, but then the whole kidnapped and turned into a mermaid thing happened. Besides, I don't know how Steve feels about the idea of having kids."

Natasha snorted. "You can't pull the whole 'Steve won't want children card.' Steve adores everyone. I'm sure he would love the idea of being a father, especially if you're the mother."

"I don't know I just-"

Liz was interrupted by the shrill beeping on the alarm to Assemble. Liz and Natasha left the bathroom and ran down the hallway. Tony had taken the elevator up to their level and was already in his Iron Man suit, his helmet held by his side.

"Liz, you're coming with us," He said simply.

Liz felt her eyes widen. Sure she was being trained and was getting pretty good, but she knew that Steve didn't want her out in the field.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Calm down little bit. Fury's sending someone to pick us up and take up to the helicarrier. Steve' turned around half way to Maine. It's not safe for you here alone."

"What's wrong," Natasha asked.

Tony sighed. "TJ's been spotted. Him and few of the other teens. Ace is still being held on the helicarrier, but Fury said he's been refusing to interact with anyone recently."

Liz swallowed and wrapped her arms around herself. "Faolan's resurfacing?"

Tony put a hand on her shoulder. "We don't know anything for sure yet, but it looks that way yes. We have to get going."

* * *

><p>The Avengers (Including Thor who had been at Jane's) were sitting in the meeting room awaiting Steve's arrival. Pepper and Liz were seated on a bench in the far corner of the room, neither woman wanting to interfere. Liz was still in her sweatpants and t-shirt, an obvious contrast to Pepper's formal attire. She must have been either going to or coming from a meeting.<p>

The silence was broken when a voice over the communications link drew all of their attention. "This is Rogers to helicarrier. Repeat this is Rogers."

It was Fury who answered. "What's you're ETA Rogers?"

"That's not going to be possible Director. We have a stow away," Steve's voice sounded slightly strained. Pepper gripped Liz's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

Fury frowned. "Bring him in Rogers."

"Her, and that's gonna be a problem Sir."

"Why is that."

"The stow away, this girl, she cut the controls. She killed the pilot before I could get to her. I have no way of steering this thing." There was a slight tremble in his voice and she could hear the fear behind his words.

Liz felt her bottom lip tremble. she was shaking. This time it was Clint who came one to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Go talk to him," He whispered

"What?" She asked.

"Go talk to him keep him calm until we figure something out."

Liz nodded. Clint brought her over to stand next to Fury. Fury gestured for her to speak.

"Steve?" She said hesitantly.

"Liz," He breathed a sigh of relief. "When they said they saw TJ- I'm glad you're alright."

"I'm fine Steve."

"This jet is going down," He said matter-of-factly.

"You're going to be fine," Liz said. And maybe he would. But right now he was reliving the moment that altered the course of his life forever. He had crashed and plane and woken up nearly 70 years later.

"The controls are locked and angled towards the water," Steve explained.

"Steve-"

"Elizabeth Rogers, I love you."

Liz wiped a tear from her eye. "I love you too. We're going to save you."

"I can see the Helicarrier."

Tony ran over to one of the windows and screamed a confirmation.

"It won't crash," Steve said confidently. "It's angled steep enough."

"He's about to hit! I'm going out there!" Tony screamed. He ran and Liz followed.

The sound of the plane hitting the water echoed in the room and then the connection was lost.

Tony ran through the corridors and Liz followed him. They came to a door and Tony pressed a button. It opened and before her could even turn to take off Liz had dived.

"What are you doing!" Tony screamed, but the words were lost as she broke the surface of the water with a painful splash and felt herself change.

She speed in the direction Steve's plane had been, her tail working faster then it ever had before. She neared the small jet. The windshield was busted and water was streaming in. Steve was floating, the water around him bloody, and his eyes were closed. Liz bit her lip and swam toward him. He had strapped himself in, but Liz had no problems disconnecting them. She dragged him out, his body heavier then she had thought it would be, and pushed toward the surfaced.

_Just yes alive, _she thought _Please just be alive._

She broke the surface and took a deep breath that she didn't need. She hoisted Steve up and made sure she kept his head above the started coughing and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Liz," He whispered between coughs. "What..how did.."

"Shh," She hugged him close and cupped his face with her hand. "Relax. It's fine." She began the swim back toward the direction of the helicarrier.

The was a slight roar and Liz looked up. She was greeted with the sight of Iron Man hovering above them.

She smiled sheepishly. "Hey Tony."

"We'll talk about this later," He said.

Liz nodded. "Take Steve. Come back for me."

"There is no need," Thor said appearing beside Tony. "I will take the Captain."

He swooped down and lifted the now unconscious Steve from Liz's grasp.

"Take him to medical," Tony said as Thor flew away.

Liz smirked. "He isn't going to like that."

"Yeah well, he isn't going to like the fact that you flung yourself out of the helicarrier either," Tony hovered close to the water and scooped her up bridal style.

"Tony," Liz sighed.

"We can talk about it later. "Thor just told me that Steve's awake already and wants to know where you are. Apparently he is giving medical a tough time." He landed in the open doorway where Clint and Natasha were waiting.

"Bruce went to check on Steve," Natasha explained. "He told us he would meet us in medical."

"I'm going to find Pepper first," Tony said. "I'll see my science bro later." And with that he left.

Liz rolled her eye. She concentrated hard, like she had been practicing, and was able to transform back. She had just stood up when she felt a sharp pain in her abdomen and double over back onto the floor. Natasha was at her side in and instant.

"What's wrong?" Clint asked, kneeling on her other side.

Natasha shook her head. "We need to get her to Bruce. Somewhere private."

"She needs to go to medical-"

"No Clint. We're bringing her to Bruce." The two shared a look. Liz saw Clint nod before darkness claimed her.

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><p>"What happened?" Bruce asked, walking into one of the spare examination rooms.<p>

Clint had contacted him while Natasha settled Liz on the table. Natasha walked over the the door and closed it before addressing the two men. "Nothing leaves this room."

Both nodded in agreement.

"Liz is pregnant," Natasha said.

Clint's jaw dropped before his face erupted into a grin. "You're kidding?"

Natasha shook her head. "No. I'm not."

Bruce smirked. "Well I suppose we're lucky you picked one of two rooms on the entire helicarrier with sonogram equipment, though I'm really not that kind of doctor Natasha."

Clint snorted and winced when Natasha slapped him. "I know Bruce," She said. "But Liz didn't want the public knowing about this. Steve doesn't even know yet."

Liz groaned and the three Avengers turned to look at her. She began to sit up, but Clint was beside her in an instant, lowering her back down. "Hey. No moving. Bruce is just going to check you out okay?"

"Tasha told you didn't she," Liz whispered. Clint could see the tears starting to form in her eyes. "It doesn't matter. I probably lost the baby."

"No!" Clint insisted. "We don't know that."

"Clint-"

"No Liz. You're fine. Bruce is just gonna check you out, cause you know, you sort of passed out on us."

Natasha leaned casually against the door (most likely to prevent any unwanted visitors from barging in) while bruce wheeled the machine over.

"Liz, I'm going to need you to lift up your shirt," She did as she was told. She was crying now and Clint took her hand reassuringly. Bruce spread the cool gel across her stomach and moved the wand around. A soft thump filled the room.

"That," Bruce said with a smile. "Is your baby's heartbeat."

Liz let out a shaky breath and rubber her eyes. "So that means…"

Bruce smiled. "You're baby is fine. Everything seems to be developing as it should be. From what I can tell you're about seven weeks along."

Natasha smirked. "You must have had a pretty entertaining honey moon."

Liz blushed and Bruce passed her a paper towel to wipe off the gel. "I'll say this one more time, I'm not this kind of doctor. You really should tell Steve and go see proper doctor, but I know enough to tell you nothing seems out of the ordinary. As for what happened, if I had to guess I would say that the worry you were experiencing combined with the physical strain and the change in your anatomy when you transformed put a great deal of stress on your body. I wouldn't change if you can avoid it until the baby is born. I also recommend taking it easy. You should probably find someone comfortable to lie down and sleep for a few hours."

"Though she should probably go up to medical and see Steve," Clint smirked. "Tony said he's refusing to sit still until he sees you."

"Is he okay?" Liz asked and Bruce helped her down off the table.

Clint nodded. "Perfectly fine. Mild concussion, but the cut on his head is already pretty much healed."

Natasha grabbed Clint's arm. "Bruce take her up to medical, we're going to go find Fury."

* * *

><p>"Sit…down," Tony said with a grunt, pushing the Super Soldier back on the bed. Luckily he was still in his suit, otherwise Steve would have been able to over power him easily. He might have still been able to do it if he wasn't so panicked and slightly water logged. The little swim he had just taken had (understandably) really shaken him up.<p>

"Liz was there," Steve said, struggling again.

"Yes. She was. But now she's on her way up here and she's going to be angry if you hurt yourself trying to get to her," Tony shoved him gently again.

"Steve?" Steve stopped struggling and fixed his gaze at someone over Tony's shoulder.

Tony slowly released his hold on Steve and turned around. Liz had her arms wrapped around herself. She was still dressed in her sweatpants and t-shirt , but her hair was up now. Bruce had an arm around her and was guiding her towards them. Tony smiled. "Hey little bit. How you feeling?"

Liz shrugged. "I'm fine," She shifted and glanced at Bruce.

Bruce nodded and walked over to Tony. "Come on Stark, let's give the love birds some privacy." He dragged Tony out of the room and shut the door behind him.

Liz sighed and walked over and collapsed into Steve's arms. He caught her and kissed her forehead as she broke into sobs. "I was so worried about you."

Steve laughed. "Yeah. Not gonna lie, that was pretty terrifying," He squeezed her. "If I had slept for another seventy years, I would have woken up without you."

Liz slid of of Steve's lap and onto the bed next to him. She gently brushed the thin white line that used to be a gash. "I'm glad you heal fast."

Steve laughed. "Yeah me too."

Liz swallowed a took a deep breath. "I need to tell you something."

Steve frowned. "You can tell me anything, you know that right?"

Liz nodded. "I know, but this… this is pretty big."

Steve wrapped an arm around her. "What is it."

Liz took another breath. "Steve. We're…we're going to…um…"

Steve laughed and kissed her cheek. "Just tell me beautiful."

Liz bit her lip. "We're going to have a baby."

Steve blinked. "Uh…. come again?"

Liz felt her lip tremble. "Um, we're having a baby."

Steve didn't move for a few minutes. They were the longest minutes of Liz's life. Oh god. He didn't want this. Could she blame him? He was Captain America and he didn't need a baby in his life and… oh god what was she going to do?

Suddenly a smile broke across his handsome face. His hands flew to her stomach. "We're going to be parents? You're pregnant?"

Liz laughed. "Yeah. Yeah we are."

He drew her into a hug and kissed her. "I'm going to be a dad."

Liz buried her head in his shoulder. "I love you Steven Grant Rogers."

"I love you too Elizabeth Rogers," He placed a hand on her stomach. "And I love you too little sweet pea." Liz laughed and snuggled closer to Steve as he continued to talk. "I love you so much little baby. I'm your daddy and I love you so very much." Liz fell asleep to Steve's soft words and gentle touch.

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><p><strong>Well now you know what is up with Liz. I am really excited to share the rest of this story with you all. I already have what happens planed out. I just need to get it written out. <strong>I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Enjoy the time with your loved ones. Until next update -Silently Wandering <strong>**


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